….
4. Provides a home for mice and small birds
5. Protects the paint/clear coat from excessive heating and rapid cooling…maybe?
About #4…
2004 Sprinter. 310k miles. Stored in the winter. Lots of dryer sheets, steel wool, minty scents..stored in Northern New Hampshire one cold, cold winter. Modern Morton Building with a concrete floor. I knew the mice had some relative warmth that year, as it was clear someone had harvested some insulation from the firewall pad on the passenger side. Upset me given my thoughtful mitigation before storage. Aw well, it was cold!!!!
Welp, a number of years later now and I have at least half the mojave’s sand in the hood liner. And that is only what remained after 10 years of XC driving. Finally ordered replacment hood and vent insulation. Removed the original pad this afternoon. Low and behold, I find my firewall insulation nested between the pad and the hood. Place was dark and warm…that’s for sure!!
Took a bit of cleaning the underside of the hood. And, yup, I’ll be treating some mind-boggling rust patches before installing the new pad. If only I could figure out what tool I need/don’t need to remove the original retention clips without damaging the metal ?
Hood Insulation Pad-SPRINTER 2002-2006
901 831 00 96
Hood Insulation Pad Mounting Plug-SPRINTER 2002-2006
123 990 02 92 (12 needed, order extra)
Cabin Filter Insulation Kit 2002-2006
909 835 04 00 05 00